84 The Pirate with the Highest Bounty in the East Blue

To Sherwin surprise, even after Seijuro Meow began the counter-ambush training that he himself had undergone, he still didn't awaken Observation Haki as quickly as Sherwin or Sanji Meow had.

After a round of discussion and analysis, they realized that the likely reason for this was that Seijuro Meow innate perception and reflexes were simply too strong...

Even relying solely on his mind eye, he could dodge most of the sneak attacks from Sanji Meow and Klee Meow. As for Sherwin sneak attacks, the only reason he couldn't evade them was because Sherwin was faster—not because Seijuro hadn't sensed them.

So... having too much talent might not always be a good thing, huh?

Sherwin suddenly felt a sense of balance again.

Of course, this was just a theory—there were still other possibilities.

For instance...

Maybe Seijuro Meow wasn't as naturally gifted in Observation Haki as Sherwin had assumed.

Or perhaps...

The counter-ambush training method simply wasn't suited to Seijuro Meow.

Whatever the reason, Sherwin—who had previously been thoroughly discouraged by Seijuro Meow overwhelming ability—finally regained a sliver of confidence.

In contrast to his sluggish—or even nonexistent—progress in Observation Haki, Seijuro Meow advancement in Armament Haki was much more significant.

Not only did he quickly master several Armament techniques, but his Haki reserves were increasing by the day. It felt like it wouldn't be long before he could harden his entire body with Armament Haki.

Hmph! It just a matter of having a size advantage!

Sherwin insisted he wasn't jealous. Not at all! Definitely not!

Aside from his daily training and improving his strength, what Sherwin wanted most right now was to get his hands on a reliable map of the East Blue, so he could "pre-render" it into his dynamic map.

Back in Loguetown, he had tried to sneak into a Marine base like he had done in the West Blue to freeload off the Marines' maps. Unfortunately, although the general quality of the East Blue Marines was questionable, bases as defenseless as the ones he'd encountered before were still rare. No matter how cute the cats were, he still hadn't managed to get into any Marine base.

He had also tried contacting Morgans through a Den Den Mushi for help. But Morgans simply replied that the East Blue was a rural backwater with no big news, so the World Economy News Paper only had a small permanent office in Loguetown—and they hadn't even bothered to prepare sea charts for the area.

Morgans even went out of his way to explain that most of the big-name pirates who generated headline-worthy stories were on the Grand Line.

That why the World Economy News Paper didn't have much staff stationed in the four blues, which was also one of the reasons he had been so excited when Sherwin sent him his travel notes from the West Blue.

So in the end, Sherwin plans circled back to his earliest one—go find Nami and borrow the charts she had drawn.

Originally, Sherwin had planned to head straight toward Nami. That way, he could get reliable sea charts early on, help deal with the Arlong Pirates entrenched there, and maybe even earn a little extra on the side.

But here came the problem... what was Nami hometown called again?

Even when he switched tactics and tried asking around about where the Arlong Pirates were based, no one seemed to know.

Because the Arlong Pirates were in cahoots with that rat-faced Captain Nezumi, they only collected protection money from a fixed region and rarely went out to plunder.

Due to Arlong and his crew malice toward humans, whether they were out at sea raiding or someone accidentally trespassed into their territory, they never left any survivors.

As a result, even though Arlong had taken over a large territory, the outside world knew very little about them.

Fortunately, Sherwin vaguely remembered that in the original manga, after Luffy and his crew defeated Arlong, they arrived at Loguetown. So Nami hometown shouldn't be too far from Loguetown… right?

…

"It not the right one again…"

Looking at the peaceful village in front of him, Sherwin let out a helpless sigh.

Don't be fooled by how the manga made it seem like the crew went straight to Loguetown after dealing with Arlong.

In reality, there were countless islands of all sizes around Loguetown. Without a reliable sea chart, Sherwin could only rely on luck.

And speaking of luck, Sherwin naturally thought of Klee Meow. But Klee Meow luck mostly showed up when it came to treasure hunting—when it came to finding people, it wasn't nearly as consistent.

So Sherwin could only pin his hopes on those rough sea charts. Besides using them to understand which islands were nearby, he also hoped he might just happen to spot the name of Nami hometown and trigger his memory.

In theory, those long-distance merchants should have more accurate maps. For example, that CP agent Cody, who had disguised himself as a merchant in the West Blue, had detailed maps of the islands near the routes their trade fleet usually traveled.

But...

Up until now, Sherwin hadn't run into a single damn big-time merchant!

All he could say was—no wonder the East Blue had the nickname "the weakest sea." This "weak" really was in every possible way.

"So, Klee, I'll have to trouble you again."

After strolling around the village, opening up the map, and buying a bit of the local specialties, Sherwin and the others were ready to leave. Before that, Sherwin once again asked Klee Meow to randomly point out a direction...

It might be hit or miss, but hey—it still a method, right?

"Sherwin-nii, are you still looking for that Fishman with the really weird nose, meow?" Klee Meow scratched her head in confusion.

They had already encountered Fishmen back in the West Blue, and since the Monster Hunter world also had races like the Wyverians, only Seijuro Meow was still curious about what Arlong looked like. Klee Meow and Sanji Meow were already used to strange beings like that.

But what puzzled Klee Meow was—

"That Fishman doesn't even have a high bounty. Why are you looking for him, meow?"

Sherwin honestly didn't know how to explain it to Klee Meow, so he could only force a justification using bounties:

"Bounties in the East Blue are generally low. Arlong bounty is already the highest among pirates here."

In Sherwin memory, Arlong, being the final boss of the East Blue arc, had a bounty of around 20 million Berries.

But since they arrived a bit earlier than the original timeline, Arlong current bounty was only 16 million Berries—the same as "Captain" Kuro…

At this point in time, Kuro hadn't faked his death yet or gone to Usopp hometown to plot against that young lady inheritance.

Also, Krieg bounty had just recently risen to 15 million Berries. The reason for the increase was that he disguised himself as a Marine and attacked a village, which caused his bounty to double.

As for Buggy, who had a decent amount of screen time in the original story, he currently only had a mere 8 million Berries. Who knew what that guy had been doing all these years in the East Blue?

"So Sherwin-nii wants to find the pirate with the highest bounty, meow?" Klee Meow tilted her head and asked, confirming after hearing Sherwin explanation.

"Uh... you could say that."

Sherwin thought about it, but didn't bother to explain further. After all, even if they ran into Krieg or Kuro, it wouldn't be a problem.

Both of them were the cunning, scheming type—or in other words, they had brains. So they likely had access to more detailed and wider-ranging sea charts.

"The pirate with the highest bounty… the pirate with the highest bounty… the pirate with the highest bounty…"

Klee Meow mumbled to herself as she began spinning in place. After about ten or so spins, the little ragdoll finally stopped, turned to look at her tail, then pointed in the direction the tip of her tail was facing and said to Sherwin, "That way, meow!"

Sherwin looked at the low-quality sea chart in his hand... There didn't seem to be any islands in that direction...

But he only hesitated for two seconds before deciding to follow Klee Meow guidance.

After all, this crappy sea chart wasn't very reliable anyway. Better to keep trusting the cat. And even if they didn't find the main target, with Klee Meow lucky streak, they'd probably stumble upon something good.

Just like that, Sherwin and the others sailed in the direction Klee Meow pointed for over an hour. Along the way, they didn't come across a single sizable island—only a few scattered reefs that weren't even recognized by the Hunter Manual.

Still, Sherwin and the crew weren't in any rush. It was completely normal to go several days at sea without seeing an island.

Only Klee Meow seemed to be taking things personally this time. Not only did she refrain from clinging to Sherwin like she usually did, she even climbed up the mast on her own and took on the lookout job, which was usually handled by Sanji Meow.

"Sherwin-nii!" Klee Meow suddenly shouted loudly from atop the mast. "There a ship ahead that looks like a fish, meow!"